Secrets and Lies
by Cissaflake
Summary: Rewrite. Bellatrix has postponed her marriage to Rodolphus and fled. She has been living in an old abandoned house for ten months. It is up to Narcissa to find her, bring her back, and discover her secret. What happens when she meets an old friend? Forced to marry Rod, she is forbidden to leave the house. How does she escape and build a life for herself? What about Larissa?


Secrets and Lies

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Chapter One

Rain lashed down on the windows. The woman in the bed whimpered in her sleep- obviously having a nightmare of some sort. The ripped curtains didn't let much light into the gloomy room, as the sky was darkened by heavy clouds.

The occasional clap of thunder would ring through the air, sometimes waking the woman. Only for her to fall back asleep again a moment later.

She had found that sitting in bed all day was very tiring. Oh how she hated doing nothing. She had always hated doing nothing. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always been the most active of her sisters. Always getting into trouble, but that was the way she liked it.

And now this.

After postponing her marriage for a year and a half, ten of those months were already gone.

She was quite a selfish person, just lying in bed while there was a small child that needed her attention in this storm.

But that was the way Bellatrix had always been; putting herself first.

She would have to change that for the time being of course, as when there was a baby there was no option of being selfish.

But here she was. The baby was sleeping, as usual. She was quite a good child for one so young.

She had only been born the month beforehand, and already she slept more than she cried which Bellatrix was most grateful for- she couldn't handle it when the child cried.

It seemed that no matter what she did, her baby would just continue to cry and cry until she cried herself to sleep.

Bellatrix couldn't really blame her though. They didn't exactly have the nicest lifestyle.

It was the crying of Bellatrix' daughter that woke her from her disturbed slumber. Sighing, she got out of bed and walked over to the old crib that she had found in the attic of the abandoned house for her child to rest in.

'Shh.' Bellatrix said softly, softer than she would care to admit.

This child made her soft, this little girl was the only thing in the world that Bellatrix would ever let herself be soft around.

She told herself that it was because of the child's crying; she had to be soft or the child would cry and cry and cry.

'Little Larissa.' Bellatrix picked up the child out of the crib and cradled her in her arms. 'Hush now.' She began to rock her gently as another clap of thunder rang through the air, and the room was momentarily lit up as the lightning streaked across the sky outside.

It was strange weather for April, she had to admit. But that was British weather she supposed. Bellatrix didn't know exactly where she was. She had fled when she had found out she was pregnant. She hadn't told anyone of her departure, she sometimes wondered if they worried about her. Her sister Narcissa would of course, but Bellatrix could handle herself, everyone knew that.

But if she could handle a child, something so delicate and fragile that sometimes Bellatrix was scared that she might hurt her daughter accidentally.

The last time Bellatrix had seen a baby was when Narcissa had had her child, Draco, the previous year.

He had been quite a bit bigger than her daughter was now, but Bellatrix just assumed that that was because he was a boy.

She didn't know how to look after a baby. Sometimes she wished that Narcissa had been there too, it might have been a little less lonely. But she couldn't have told her.

She wouldn't have understood.

Narcissa didn't understand that to conceive a child was an act of love and not just an act of marriage- a duty.

And Bellatrix wasn't married. For this was not her fiancé's child. It was _his._

She hated him.

She always had.

It was hard to think that just ten months previously she had lain in his bed, content with each other after a night of passion. And that along the way she had learned to not hate him as much as she had done.

She had always hated him since they had been children. And she hated him for getting her into this situation.

For this child that she had learned to dare she say _love. _For this child that she would have to hand over to him in a few more months and never see her again.

For everything. She hated him with a burning passion.

The child was sleeping peacefully in her mothers' arms now, and Bellatrix watched her little chest rise and fall with every breath.

The doorbell rang.

Bellatrix froze. Who could be at the door? This wasn't her house, how could she explain being here?

Bellatrix carefully placed her daughter down in the crib, sighing as a frown appeared on her little face.

'Bella?' She heard a familiar voice call from outside. 'Bella if you're in there, please let me in. I'm getting soaked out here! Bella?'

Bellatrix cautiously went out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her; praying that her daughter would remain asleep.

She opened the door to reveal a soaking wet Narcissa. Her sister pushed her straggly wet hair out of her eyes and smiled in relief at the sight of her sister.

'How did you find me?' Bellatrix asked, letting her sister in out of the storm.

'It's nice to see you too.' Narcissa pouted, it was that pout that Bellatrix had learned to not react to anymore.

'How did you find me?' She asked again.

'I don't know really, I disapparated and was thinking of you so I ended up here.' She shrugged.

Shrugging didn't look good on Narcissa. It didn't suit her prim and proper demeanour.

'Why are you here, Bella? You've been gone so long.'

'Ten months.'

'You've been _here_ for ten months?' Narcissa wrinkled her nose in distaste, looking around what seemed to be a living room.

'Well it's probably seen better days...' Bellatrix trailed off.

'_Probably.' _Narcissa agreed. 'So why _are _you here?'

Bellatrix didn't say anything. She wracked her brains trying to think of an excuse as to why she _had _spent ten months living in this disgusting place.

Bellatrix heard a whimper of some sort from the room across the hall. She cursed under her breath. This was the whimper that her daughter did before she started crying. Loudly.

'I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.' Bellatrix hurried down the hall and into the bedroom, hoping to soothe the baby before she could omit any loud cries to show Narcissa that Bellatrix wasn't alone here.

'Shhh. Darling, hush now.' Bellatrix gently caressed her daughters head, stroking the little ebony tuft of hair on the girls head.

She opened her dark eyes and looked up at her mother.

'See? You're okay, I'm still here. Everything's fine.'

She knew Narcissa would come snooping any time soon, so she really had to get back out there. But what could she tell her sister?

Bellatrix sighed in relief as her daughters eyes fluttered closed once more and she was lulled into a sleep by the sound of the heavy rain. Thankfully the thunder had stopped by now and the storm was just cooling off with heavy rain.

She closed the door quietly and went back to where she had left her sister.

'Where did you go?'

'Doesn't matter.' Bellatrix brushed off the question.

'How much longer are you going to stay here, Bella?'

'So many questions... I'd say a few more months...' Meaning around six to eight.

'Stay with me. Lucius is out on a mission abroad for a while, I could use the company.'

'What about Draco?'

'Well a one year old isn't the best company in the world, I'd like to be able to have a full conversation with someone.'

'I can't Cissy...'

'Why not? Please?'

'I just can't.'

'You're hiding something.'

'No I'm not.'

'You are, I can tell. You're my sister Bella. I know you.'

'You wouldn't understand.'

'Try me.'

'You just wouldn't Cissa!'

'Why not?'

Bellatrix sighed. She had feared for this. Narcissa had always been the one person she couldn't lie to.

'Stay here.' Bellatrix had made her decision there and then that anywhere was better than here. And if Narcissa's idiot husband wasn't at home, why shouldn't she trust her sister? Narcissa had always been there for her. Always.

Bellatrix went into her bedroom, and picked up her daughter, awakening her in the process. She carried her out of the bedroom, starting to panic as she approached the living room.

'We can do this, yeah?' She asked quietly to her daughter who just blinked in response. She pushed the door open and went to sit down next to Narcissa.

'Is that a _baby?_' Narcissa asked in disbelief.

'Yes.'

'_Your _baby?'

'Yes.'

'But how? When? Why did you run away? Rodolphus would have been thrilled.'

'Rodolphus doesn't have to know.' She clenched her jaw.

'But he always wanted a child you know that!'

Bella was waiting for the penny to drop. 'Well he probably wouldn't have been thrilled with this one.'

'Why ever not? Unless...'

'Unless?'

'...That's not Rodolphus' child is it?'

'Nope.'

'Bella!' Narcissa scolded.

'What?'

'You know how Rodolphus loves you! How could you betray him like this?'

Bella actually laughed. 'Rod loves me? Yeah right. This is why I said you wouldn't understand.'

'Then whose baby is it?' Narcissa bit her lip.

'Mine.'

'So you've said. I meant who is the father?'

'I'll tell you that when I wish to tell you. And if you're just going to tell me how wrong it is that I slept with someone that isn't Rod then kindly leave.'

'I'm sorry.' Narcissa said after a moment. 'You will still come back with me though, won't you?'

'I don't know...'

'Please Bella? The Dark Lord requires Lucius abroad for six months. I'll be terribly lonely. And this really can't be the best place for a child anyway. What's she called?'

'Larissa. Larissa Carina Black.'

'She's beautiful.'

Bellatrix smiled. She was.

'Please come back with me.'

Bellatrix sighed. 'Fine.'

'Good. Do you have anything you need to bring?'

Bellatrix went back into her bedroom and gathered up her few clothes and the very few she had bought for Larissa.

'Come on then.' Narcissa said, offering her hand to Bellatrix.

'Is it safe to apparate with her?'

'It might be safer if I take her.' Narcissa took Larissa from her sister and they apparated back to Malfoy Manor where a grumpy one year old Draco had just woken up from his nap to find his mummy gone and only the maids for company.

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**A/N: Yay rewrite! I promise that this version will be 100 times better!**

**Please review :)**

**I'm especially in need of reviews as I don't write Harry Potter that much anymore so I'll definitely need some motivation... :)**


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